1 Note on Version 1 SensorStations vs. Version 2 SensorStations

This User Guide has been redesigned around the new (ca.2020) Version 2 SensorStation (V2) which includes an LCD display. Otherwise, Version 1 stations (ca.2019) are nearly identical to V2 stations. In cases where they differ, we have made note in the manual. If you are setting up a V1 station you may want to begin at the QuickStart Guide in Appendix II. If you find inconsistencies in this manual please email us at as we will be updating the manual regularly.

2 Join us in our Slack User Community

We now have a Slack workspace dedicated to CTT users. Topics range from station logistics to study design, and from data management to current development of novel analytic tool. Come be a part of the discussion and engage with other users as we push the boundaries of remotely sensed telemetry data! https://join.slack.com/t/celltracktechsupport/shared_invite/zt-m6phfypu-aIV4zznt0Xe3G3oUsC6KRQ

3 Congratulations

If you are reading this document, then you most likely have purchased one of our Internet of Wildlife (IoW) components. Whether you’re doing localized detailed studies of small mammals or songbirds, or you’re setting up SensorStations as part of the global Motus Wildlife Tracking System (motus.org), or you’re doing something in-between, we’ve got you covered, and this document is meant to help you get started quickly and painlessly. If for some reason you get stuck along the way, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us directly either via email () or through our online Help Desk here: https://celltracktech.atlassian.net/servicedesk/customer/portals.

4 Participating in the Motus Wildlife Tracking System

If you are setting up your SensorStation to participate in the Motus Wildlife Tracking System (motus.org), your station can still be used with CTT Nodes. In general, we recommend Motus stations to include 4 Yagi 10-element antennas pointing in the 4 cardinal directions. A fifth Omni antenna can be installed and dedicated to detecting nodes, or one of the Yagi antennas can be used for nodes while the other three are positioned at 120 degrees for full coverage. You may also add any number of 166MHz antennas by using a Software Defined Radio (SDR), such as a FunCube or RTL-SDR, via any of the USB ports on the SensorStation (SDRs are sold separately via third-party companies). A clear view of the horizon is preferred to get maximum range, so a height as high as possible is also advised. For more information on Motus, see Appendix I.

5 SensorStation Precautions

Treat your SensorStation board like you would any other motherboard, Arduino or Raspberry Pi. All electronics, no matter how robust, can be static sensitive. Take care no metal objects touch the board while it is operating, such as antenna connectors or GSM antennas, as this could cause electrical shorts that will damage the board. It is advised to wear an anti-static bracelet when handling SensorStation.

6 Setting up your CTT IoW System

CTT’s Internet of Wildlife System (IoW) is a complete radio telemetry system that consists of transmitters (radio tags), and receivers. Currently CTT produces four radio transmitters: the LifeTagTM, PowerTagTM, ES-200 and ES-150.

6.0.1 LifeTag

The CTT LifeTag is 100% solar powered, and therefore has no battery. This allows the tag to persist for many years, beeping out its unique digital ID whenever it has sunlight. For species active during the day, and for small animals for which multi-season or multi-year data are required, LifeTags are the obvious choice.

6.0.2 PowerTag

The CTT PowerTag is battery powered which means it can beep out its digitally coded ID 24-hours a day. The life span of a PowerTag is defined by the beep rate (# of beeps per minute) and battery size. For species where nighttime data is important, PowerTags are the perfect fit.

6.0.3 ES-200 and ES-150

The ES-200 and ES-150 are GPS logger tags that can also send data over the 434MHz frequency, and therefore can send archived telemetry data to the SensorStation. Since they communicate on the same frequency as LifeTags and PowerTags, no special radio configuration is needed. The difference between the two is that the ES-150 also has an Argos radio to send data via the Argos satellite network.

6.0.4 CTT SensorStation

The CTT SensorStation collect data directly from tags and can collect data from a series of Nodes to more precisely locate tags within a study site. The SensorStation stores data and, with an optional GSM data plan, can also send those data directly to the CTT Servers.

6.0.5 CTT Node

CTT Nodes are essentially mini-base stations: devices with integrated solar panels, a lithium battery, and an antenna to collect data from PowerTags and LifeTags and send those data to the SensorStation. These data can then be post-processed to localize tags within a grid of nodes over user-defined time steps.

6.1 Understanding Detection Distances

The detection distance from Node to Tag varies for various reasons, including terrain, vegetation, and the behavior of the tagged animals. For instance, a bird flying overhead may be picked up over a kilometer away by a node, but one foraging in dense vegetation may only be detected from a few hundred meters. When using nodes for localization it’s important to note that the accuracy of locations of animals wearing tags can be as little as less than 5m, but can range widely depending on the density of Nodes. For localizing tag positions, the spacing and placement of nodes must allow for tags to be detected simultaneously by three or more nodes.

The detection distance from SensorStation to Node is also affected by terrain and vegetation, but also antenna height and type (omni-directional vs. directional). Therefore, while there is no hard and fast rule, a good starting point is to keep your farthest node within 1-1.5km of the SensorStation. The number of SensorStations needed for each system depends on the size of the study area. For instance, in a 2 KM2 plot, a SensorStation placed at the center of the plot could detect nodes across the entire study area, in most cases with only an omni-directional antenna. Because Nodes are dependent on the SensorStation to receive their data and aggregate it for analysis, it is critical to ensure each node is within the detection radius of at least one SensorStation at all times.

The detection distance from SensorStation to Tag is affected by the same factors as SensorStation to Node, but because many tags are on birds, bats and insects, the relationship between the two objects can change drastically over very short time steps. With line-of-sight, a tag on a bird has been shown to be detectable for dozens of kilometers by a SensorStation. On the other hand, birds foraging in dense vegetation may only be detectable by a station within a few kilometers. Therefore, careful consideration of station position with relation to the biological questions being asked is critical for a successful deployment.

6.2 SensorStation installation example

6.2.1 Materials

  • LifeTag/PowerTag or ES-200
  • Nodes (each)
    • 1 x Node box
    • 1 x Antenna
    • 1 x Clamp hardware
    • 1 x ¾” EMT conduit
  • SensorStation
    • 1 x SensorStation
    • 1 x Enclosure
    • 4 x SensorStation Screws: #8-16 X ¼ phillips self tapping screws for plastic:
      https://www.mcmaster.com/99461a330
    • 1 x Power cable
    • 1 x Omni Antenna
    • 1 x Coax cable
  • Mounting hardware
    • 10’ long 1’’ EMT conduit
    • 10’ long 1 ¼’’ EMT conduit
    • 10’ long 1 ½’’ EMT conduit
    • Tripod
    • SensorStation Clamp
    • Tap screws
    • zip ties
    • coax tape
  • Optional
    • colored electrical tape for color-coding antenna wire ends

6.2.2 Mounting your Equipment

For both the SensorStation and Nodes we recommend attaching to EMT conduit. We recommend this because it is rigid and easy to set up. This is not what’s commonly referred to as Black Pipe used for water and gas lines, but the galvanized steel pipe used for running electrical wiring inside.

6.2.3 Building a mast for your SensorStation

We don’t recommend PVC because it moves in the wind, becomes brittle, and will snap over time. EMT can be painted if you would like them camouflaged.

The conduit can be attached to a tripod, mounted directly into the ground, or onto a building or other structure. The Nodes and SensorStations are then attached to the conduit. The diameter of the conduit is typically 1” for the top mast section of the SensorStation (the section to which the antennas are attached; light green in the picture below).

For every 7 feet of height the base section will increase in diameter by ¼”. For example, in the picture above, a 15 foot mast will have a 1” section (light green) inserted into a 1 ¼” (orange) and then into a 1 ½” (blue). If the conduit is inserted into the ground, the 1 ½” conduit should be inserted into a 4’ section of 2” pipe (dark green). The pipe in the ground is cut in half, the bottom flattened slightly with sledge hammer to keep soil from entering when it is driven into the ground. A block of wood can be used to pound the pipe into the ground to prevent bending the pipe. If the antenna mast is shorter, the next size up gets driven into the ground (1/ ¼”). Note that standard EMT conduit does eventually rust, however it will remain very strong for 6-10 years.

If desired, stainless conduit can be purchased, however it is much more expensive, but recommended if you are in an area that receives high winds. It is crucial to overlap each section of pipe by at least 2 feet. Self tapping screws are used to hold pipes together, but should not be used within 3-4” of the end of the pipes and/or seams. The chart below should help with what is needed for your setup per SensorStation.

Total Approx Mast Ht. EMT Needed for mast (10’) Ground Section Needed (4’) Coax Length Per Antenna
7’ 1" 1 1/4" min 10ft
15’ 1”,1 ¼” 1 ½” min 20’
23’ 1”, 1 ¼”, 1 ½” 2” min 25’
28’ 1”, 1 ¼”, 1 ½” 2”- Use full 10’ min 30’

Masts higher than 28’ not recommended with standard free-standing EMT conduit. Guy wires and/or scaffold or tripod masts are other options for higher towers.

6.2.4 Mounting Nodes

Nodes are typically attached to the top of a ¾” piece of EMT. The clamps shown below come standard with the nodes and accept ¾ or 1” conduit.

A 7/16” socket is used to tighten the clamp bolts. The EMT is typically driven into the ground approximately 2 feet. The height of the nodes can be changed depending on the project, but for best results should be consistent within a study site. We recommend 8’ for most setups, see below for pictures of the node setup in the field. If you choose an alternate mounting method, care should be taken that they are secure. If they are mounted on anything that sways greatly with the wind, the readings won’t be consistent.

Note: Nodes purchased in 2020 and beyond have a built-in GPS. Prior to 2020 you must take accurate GPS readings and record that data with the Node ID in order to run post-hoc localization analyses.

6.3 Node Placement

Setting up the CTT Nodes is typically done in a grid in your study site. It is not imperative that they are exactly in a grid, but the closer you can set them up in a grid, the more accurate positioning you will get from the tags. In sites where this is not practical, you can simply set them up where you can, 100-300m apart, and record GPS of the Node locations. Even in a grid setup, it is best practice to take GPS coordinates whether or not they differ from the layout.

6.4 SensorStation Placement

The CTT IoW SensorStation may be placed anywhere within range of the farthest node, which is typically 1-1.5km (although higher placement of SensorStation antennas, and clear line-of-sight between stations and nodes, can achieve longer detection distances). See the next section on SensorStation Configuration and Antenna Detail for more details on this. It is recommended to place the SensorStation antennas at least 2 meters high. The higher the antennas, the better range you will get.

6.5 SensorStation Configuration and Antenna Detail

The standard configuration for the CTT SensorStation allows for receiving data on five 434MHz radio ports simultaneously. These can be configured to either record signals from LifeTags/PowerTags and ES-200 GPS loggers (hereafter “tags”), or to collect data from CTT Nodes. Tags and Nodes cannot be picked up on the same channel simultaneously, and how you configure your station depends depends on your study goals. The number of channels necessary on a SensorStation depends on the number of Nodes, whether you want to detect tags/transmitters and/or Nodes directly with the SensorStation, and the distance the Nodes are from the SensorStation.There is no hard limit to the number of nodes that can be detected by a single SensorStation, but it’s best to keep that number around 50 or less. Distance to the SensorStation will usually be the limiting factor for the number of nodes detectable by a single SensorStation.

Two types of antennas are commonly used with the SensorStation: Omnidirectional and Yagi. Omnidirectional antennas efficiently receive energy in a horizontal plane 360 degrees around the SensorStation. Omnidirectional antennas typically do not have as great a range as Yagis, but a benefit is the 360 degree detection, and great detection of tags and nodes that are near the station.

Note: Whereas in the past we have recommended specific polarization for omnidirectional antennas picking up Nodes vs. Tags, in our testing we have found the difference negligible and find vertical omni antennas to be much simpler and less expensive for a greater value over horizontally polarized omnis.

Yagis are directional antennas used to detect tags and nodes in a specific direction from the SensorStation. They typically have a 30-60 degree detection range that extends away from the SensorStation. For that reason typically 2-4 antennas are used, one pointed in each cardinal direction, or two pointed in opposite directions and used to make a “fence”. Yagis can also be used to pick up Nodes that are farther away from the SensorStation.

While there are many antennas to choose from, these are a few that we can recommend from experience:

Whatever you choose, make sure you get the proper coaxial end to connect your antenna to your SensorStation!

6.5.1 Connecting antennas to your SensorStation

To connect antennas to your SensorStation you will need coaxial cable (we recommend LMR-400 or better) with the proper ends to connect to the antenna (manufacturer specific) and your SensorStation. If connecting directly to the board, each 434MHz radio has a SMA Female port, so your coaxial will require an SMA Male connector.

If connecting to our NEMA case, your coaxial will need a Type N Male connector.

If connecting an antenna for a different frequency, such as 166MHz, you will need to attach your Software Defined Radio (SDR) to one of the USB ports and your coaxial cable to the SMA connector on the SDR. Note that any 166MHz radios will only show up in the SensorGnome section of the Web Interface (see Sensor Station Web Interface).

6.5.2 Mounting the antennas

Antennas are attached to the EMT conduit with the clamps that come with the antennas. If you have a setup that uses 4 yagis, than you will attach the yagis to a 4 or 5-way mounting “hat” you can purchase via online retailers. Once the antennas are on EMT, attach the coax and wrap the connection with coax tape. Run down the poles to where it will attach to the SensorStation. You can use zip ties to secure the coax to poles where needed. Make sure you have enough coax to form a drip loop for each connection.

6.5.3 Placing your SensorStation

The SensorStation can be placed inside a building, or fastened to the pole or building, etc. It should either be close to the ground for easy access, or have an ethernet cable run down to an accessible location.

7 Powering your SensorStation

The SensorStation can be connected directly to a 12V DC power source, via a charge controller, or to an AC to DC power supply which can then be plugged directly into your standard AC power source. In many cases, though, SensorStations are deployed remotely and are in need of a remote power supply such as a solar charged deep-cycle marine battery. A typical setup would be a 50-100W solar panel connected to a charge controller. The charge controller typically has 3 ports. The 3 ports are 1.) Solar panel 2.) 12V battery 3.) Accessory/Device/consumer, which, in this case, is your SensorStation. That line goes into the green Power In terminal on the SensorStation board. The positive and negative wire ports are labeled on the board, and to insert the wire simply loosen the set screws on the top, and slide the wire leads in to the holes just under the set screws (see the pictures below; note for V1 stations see the QuickStart Guide in Appendix II).

Power not connected Power connected

The ends of the wires that are attached should be tinned with solder for best results. If you do not have access to a soldering gun, twisting the ends of the cables tightly will help them slide in cleanly to the power block.

7.1 Monitoring your solar voltage

If you would like to monitor your solar voltage remotely, you will need to use the solar monitor connector. it is located above the on/off switch. Simply run two wires from the solar input of the charge controller to a two pin connector.

8 SensorStation LEDs

There are several LED lights on the SensorStation which may assist you in diagnosing issues. Note that with the introduction of the SensorStation V2’s LCD screen, all diagnoses can be carried out via the LCD.

8.1 Diagnostic A (green)

LED Behavior Meaning Troubleshooting Steps
OFF or SOLID The software has stopped reading data from the radios and writing to the disk. Restart your SensorStation.
Blinking The software is reading data from the radios and writing that data to disk. The system is operating properly.

8.2 Diagnostic B (red)

LED Behavior Meaning Troubleshooting Steps
ON Indicates that the SensorStation has established a point-to-point protocol (PPP) connection between the network and the on-board modem. The SensorStation checks for the connection every second. The PPP connection is just the layer that allows the modem to communicate to the network if it is on, but doesn’t always indicate that a connection is working (such as in the case of a weak signal)
OFF Indicates that the SensorStation modem is not connected to the network. If there is no modem on the SensorStation this would be the typical state and behavior. If a modem exists but this behavior continues, it indicates that the modem is unable to secure a connection to the network.

8.3 GSM Cellular LED (blue)

The blue LED by the cellular module, labeled D9, is called the Netlight. The Netlight blinks differently, depending on the modem state. You can use this blink rate to identify if your SensorStation is connected to the Internet or unable to connect.

LED Behavior Meaning Troubleshooting Steps
OFF The modem is not currently powered on. Check to make sure the Raspberry Pi is running.
Moderate blinking (5 times per second) The modem is searching for a signal and is not yet connected to a network. Wait a minute or two for the modem to find a signal. If it continues to blink, try using an external antenna or moving the SensorStation to a better location. Also, be sure that your SensorStation has a data plan and is activated.
Slow blinking (once every 2 seconds) The modem is connected to the network but is idle.
Fast blinking (8 times per second) The modem is connected to the network and is transferring data.

9 SensorStation Navigation Buttons

The SensorStation features 4 navigation buttons labeled UP, DN, BACK and SELECT. They are typically used with the SensorStation software to navigate the LCD display.

9.1 Technical Description

These buttons are directly wired to the Compute Module’s GPIO lines BCM4, 5, 6, and 7. You will need to enable pullups on these lines to use these buttons.

10 SensorStation LCD Menu

11 Downloading your data via a USB Thumb Drive

  1. Insert a properly formatted (currently only MS DOS or Fat32 formatting is supported) USB thumb drive in one of the seven USB ports.
  2. Navigate to File Transfer > Mount USB and press the SELECT button. You should see a confirmation message saying USB Mount:success.
  3. Use the BACK button to go up to the File Transfer menu, and select Download. A successful download will be followed by a success message.
  4. Use the Back button to go up to the File Transfer menu and select Unmount USB. Once you receive the success message you may remove the USB drive from the SensorStation which will now contain a copy of all the files from the station.

11.1 What’s in the folder?

On your USB drive you will find several files…

  • gps files - these contain the GPS coordinates of the SensorStation’s location
    • recorded at - time/date stamp for the time the row was written to the file (UTC)
    • gps at - time/date stamp for the instantaneous time of the last GPS fix (UTC)
    • latitude - in decimal degrees
    • longitude - in decimal degrees
    • altitude - in meters
    • quality
      • 1 - No fix.
      • 2 - 2D fix. Medium quality.
      • 3 - 3D fix. Highest quality.
    • mean lat - in decimal degrees, based on n fixes.
    • mean lng - in decimal degrees, based on n fixes.
    • n fixes - number of fixes used to calculate mean lat and lng.
  • log files
    • msg at - The date/time stamp of the message.
    • msg - The text string of the message at that time.
  • raw-data files
    • Time - Date/time stamp of the data point in YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS.
    • RadioID - The ID of the radio from which the data point was collected. These correspond to the Radios L1 - L5 on your SensorStation (standard 434MHz radios).
    • TagID - The 8-digit ID of the tag that was detected. Note that for tags with 10-digit IDs (e.g. V2 LifeTag), this will be represented by the first 8 digits in that ID.
    • TagRSSI - The signal strength of the transmission, measured in Decibels (DB). Values. closer to zero represent stronger signals. Values below -110 DB are typically not useful for estimating distance.
    • NodeId - The unique ID of the node from which the transmission was received.
    • Validated - Binary value that indicates whether the CRC value corroborated the unique tag ID. 0 = invalidated; 1 = validated. MORE EXPLANATION HERE

And two folders:

  • SGData - contains any 166MHz data collected by your station.
  • uploaded - contains any 434MHz data that has been previously uploaded to CTT servers.

12 Connecting to your SensorStation Web Interface

12.1 Connecting via Ethernet Cable

12.1.1 Before you get started you will need…

12.1.2 Making the Connection

  1. Connect each end of the Ethernet cable to the two USB->Ethernet adapters.
  2. Plug one USB end of an adapter into any of the USB ports on your SensorStation.
  3. Plug the USB end of the second adapter into your computer and wait up to two minutes to allow the SensorStation to acquire the IP address from your computer.
  4. You can test this connection through several diagnostics in the LCD menu. * Network > Ping will indicate a connection. * Network > IP Address will display a valid IP address.
  5. Open a web browser on your computer, and put the IP address from Step 5 into the URL window of the browser. The web interface should appear.

If for some reason you are unable to connect after Step 3, try restarting both the SensorStation and your computer and continue to Step 4.

12.2 Connecting via Local Wireless Network on V1 SensorStation (but also works on V2)

12.2.1 Before you get started you will need…

12.2.2 Gather important information

  1. Take note of the Wifi name and password for the network you want to link with your SensorStation.
  2. Connect to your SensorStation via the Ethernet cable (see above section for details)
  3. Open a terminal window (Terminal on Mac, Command Prompt on PC) and issue the following command:

arp -a

This will give you a list of all of the connected devices.

  1. Take a screenshot of this list, or jot them down. You’ll need this later.

12.2.3 SSH into the Pi to update the connectivity settings

  1. Type the following:

ssh pi@xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx (where the x’s represent your SensorStation IP address)

  1. Answer yes to any dialogues, and when prompted for the password, the default password is raspberry.

  2. At this point you should be in the Secure Shell within your Raspberry Pi. From here issue the following command:

sudo raspi-config

  1. From the config dialogue use the DOWN ARROW to select Network Options

  2. Then choose N2 Wireless LAN - Enter SSID and PASSPHRASE

  3. From there enter your wireless network ID (SSID) and the password/phrase for your WiFi network.

  4. Save and exit.

  5. Close the terminal.

  6. Restart your SensorStation.

12.2.4 Wirelessly connect to your SensorStation

Once your SensorStation reboots, it should automatically connect to the existing wireless network, and you will be able to reach the station via any device on the same wireless network. Note that the IP address for your station will have changed- but in most cases you can use the Hostname to connect, or you can run arp -a from the command-line to search for your station’s new IP address.

  1. Open up a web browser and try and connect by typing the following Hostname into the address bar:

For V1 SensorStations: raspberrypi.local

For V2 SensorStations: sensorstation.local

  1. If that doesn’t work, open up another terminal window and type:

arp -a

Look for a change in the connected device IP addresses. You should be able to identify a new one that wasn’t there the last time. This is your SensorStation. You can now type that IP address in the web address bar and should see the SensorStation dialogue pop up.

12.3 Connecting via Local Wireless Network on V2 SensorStation

On the new V2 SensorStation, instead of manually updating the WiFi credentials via SSH, you can use the Get WiFi function available via the LCD menu to upload a credentials file. Follow the steps below to learn how.

12.3.1 Before you get started you will need…

12.3.2 Creating the JSON file

  1. In your code editor, create a new file and set the Language Mode to JSON and the End of Line Sequence to LF (for Line Feed).
  2. Type the following into the file:
  {
    "ssid":"my_ssid",
    "psk":"my_password" 
  }

Make sure you change “my_ssid” to the name of your wifi network and “my_password” to the password for your wifi network!

  1. Save the file and name it credentials.json.
  2. Create an empty folder on your USB thumb drive called wifi.
  3. Copy credentials.json file to the wifi folder.

12.3.3 Loading the JSON file onto your SensorStation

  1. Make sure your SensorStation is powered on and the menu is visible on the LCD screen
  2. Insert your USB thumb drive into any of the USB ports on your SensorStation.
  3. Using the four buttons right of the LCD screen, navigate to File Transfer > Mount USB and click the Select button.
  4. You should receive a success message.
  5. Now navigate to File Transfer > Get WiFi and click the Select button.
  6. You should receive a success message.
  7. Restart your SensorStation.
  8. After restart, your SensorStation should be connected to your local wifi network. You can test this connection through several diagnostics in the LCD menu.
  • Network > Ping will indicate a connection.
  • Network > IP Address will display a valid IP address.

12.3.4 Connecting to your wifi-enabled SensorStation

Once your station has connected to your wifi network, you can connect to your SensorStation wirelessly via any device on the same wifi network as the station.

  • Connect your computer, tablet or smartphone to the same wifi network as your SensorStation.
  • open a web browser on your computer, tablet or smartphone and navigate to the IP address found via the Network > IP Address on your SensorStation’s LCD screen. Alternatively you can use the name found in Network > Hostname, which is typically sensorstation.local.

13 The SensorStation Web Interface

13.1 Overview

The SensorStation Web Interface provides an overview of your station’s operation, including real-time statistics on detections of tags and nodes, as well as a user interface to change settings, update your SensorStation, toggle the GSM modem, and reboot the station.

13.2 Nodes

This is a list of Nodes the station has detected since connecting. For each Node it lists:

Node ID Last Heard - the time of the last health report Node RSSI - the RSSI of the Node signal in decibels Battery Voltage - the Node’s battery voltage, which can be used to estimate its remaining life. 4.2 V is very full. 3.5 Vis low. 3 V is nearly empty. Node Firmware Version

13.3 Tags

This is a list of unique LifeTags that have been detected by your radios. For each tag it lists

  • Tag ID
  • Count - number of beeps since last page refresh
  • Alias - for convenience, a name can be given to a particular tag and saved in the browser by hitting the Update button. This information is saved in your browser only. Name it whatever you’d like. Great for keeping track of particular tags during a test.
  • “Update” Button - save the name of a particular tag to your browser
  • “Remove” Button - reset the saved name

13.4 Station

Various information about your SensorStation is stored here.

  • ID - the serial number of your SensorStation (the cell modem’s IMEI)

  • Compute Module Serial - the serial number of your Raspberry Pi Compute Module

  • Module Hardware - the compute module’s hardware version

  • Module Revision - the compute module’s hardware revision

  • Boot Count - the number of times the system has been booted

  • Total Memory - the amount of RAM currently being used by the system

  • Last Boot - Datetime of last boot

  • Memory Usage - A pie chart indicating the amount of system RAM currently being used.

  • CPU Usage - A pie chart indicating the amount of processing power currently being used.

  • Tag Histogram - A histogram of tags detected since opening the interface. The bars indicate the number of beeps detected.

  • Time Sync Stats - Detailed information of how the system time is being retrieved synced (e.g. from GPS or the internet)

13.5 SensorStation Log

A log of SensorStation activity. Includes things such as screen updates and data retrieval flushes.

13.6 GPS

Information retrieved over GPS: Time, Satellites, Latitude, Longitude, Altitude. If there is currently no valid fix, these fields will be blank.

13.7 Radios (1-5)

There is a display box for each Radio port. The boxes will display all new data from each Radio port as they are detected, informing you of the following:

  • Time
  • Tag ID
  • RSSI
  • Nodefrom which it came (if applicable).

13.7.1 Radio Configuration

Each of the five 434MHz radios can be individually configured to receive Nodes, Tags (FSK), or OOK (legacy tags) by clicking the corresponding button. On V1 SensorStations this configuration will only persist until the next webpage refresh unless you press the “Save Radio Configuration” button below, which will save the configuration permanently to memory. For V2 SensorStations the setting is automatically saved as soon as you acknowledge the confirmation popup after clicking the Node, Tag or OOK buttons for a particular radio. Configurations can be changed at any time. Note that once you have changed the radio settings, the change is immediately saved and the data will flow from whichever you changed it to; node or tag, but in order to see the text description change on the web interface, you will need to refresh the webpage.

Node = CTT Nodes Only Tag = CTT LifeTags, PowerTags, ES-200 and ES-150 GPS tags OOK = Legacy-style LifeTag only for limited specialized project

Clear Session Data simply clears the scrolling log of tags displayed for each radio port. It does not delete any data from system memory.

13.8 Data Management

The data management section is the interface through which your station data is retrieved and deleted.

13.9 Server Utilities

From the Server Utilities section on the web interface, you can now Update Your SensorStation to the latest deployment build, as well as force Check In and force Upload Data to the CTT servers.

Requirement:

  • Because these buttons require connecting to servers via the internet, your SensorStation must be connected to the internet, either via the on-board LTE module, hardwired via Ethernet (this includes being connected to a computer via Ethernet which is connected to the internet), or wirelessly via a WiFi adapter.

13.9.1 Updating your SensorStation

  1. With the CTT Sensor Station Overview page open in your browser, scroll down to Server Utilities on the right sidebar.
  2. Click the button labeled Station Update, which will open the Sensor Station Software Updater console
  3. Scroll down below the console window and click on the Update Station button. This will begin the update process. Be aware that the station will be pulling code from five different code bases, which may take up to several minutes depending on your connection speed.
  4. When the process is complete, you will receive a Station connection disconnected dialogue. This indicates that the update is complete and that the system has restarted. You may now click the dialogue to clear it, and then click the button at the bottom of the screen to go Back to Main Interface.

13.10 Station Log

Allows you to download (Download Log File) and PERMANENTLY DELETE (Clear Log File) the system log file. Used for informational and debugging purposes.

13.11 CTT Tag Data

The tag data is divided into Current Data, Data Not Uploaded, and Data Already Uploaded. Current Data is data from the last 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, data is rotated into Data Not Uploaded, which is data beyond the last 30 minutes which has not yet been uploaded to CTT servers. If there is an internet connection via cell or ethernet, an upload attempt occurs every 2 hours. After data is uploaded, it is rotated into Data Already Uploaded and will stay there until you explicitly delete it. The red Delete buttons will PERMANENTLY DELETE the corresponding data from the SensorStation. An are you sure dialogue will make sure you do not accidentally delete data.

13.12 Nanotag Data

Nanotag Data uses the same scheme as CTT Tag Data, except that currently data from the last 30 minutes is unavailable from this screen. The Sensorgnome interface is separately accessible as described below.

13.12.1 Nanotag Data / Sensorgnome Interface

13.13 Sensorgnome Interface

Click the “Sensorgnome Interface” button to go to the Sensorgnome interface.

13.14 Sensorgnome Deployment File

The Sensorgnome Deployment file can be edited here and saved by clicked Save Changes.

13.15 Reboot Button

Reboots the system.

14 Troubleshooting

I get an error when I attempt to mount my USB drive

Your USB drive may not be formatted properly

I have successfully mounted my USB drive but when I go to Add Wifi I get an error

Either your USB drive is not formatted properly (some formats will allow you to mount, but not to read the file, such as X-Fat on Mac) or your JSON file is not properly formatted.

15 Known Bugs

  1. SensorStations without a modem installed will not check in to the CTT system.

16 Appendix I: Leveraging your CTT Infrastructure with Motus

16.1 The Motus Wildlife Tracking System

When tracking wildlife with automated radio telemetry over vast distances, the challenge of deploying enough receivers to get detections grows exponentially. To remedy this, data can be shared between all researchers so that essentially everyone is sharing receivers. This greatly expands the potential for this technology, but it comes with the added responsibility of coordinating projects, detection data and metadata - that’s where Motus comes in.

16.2 What is Motus?

The Motus Wildlife Tracking System is an international collaborative network of researchers that use automated radio telemetry to simultaneously track hundreds of individuals of numerous species of birds, bats, and insects. The system enables a community of researchers, educators, organizations, and citizens to undertake impactful research and education on the ecology and conservation of migratory animals. When compared to other technologies, automated radio telemetry currently allows researchers to track the smallest animals possible, with high temporal and geographic precision, over great distances.

16.3 How does Motus work?

The entire philosophy behind Motus is that we’re all working together. At its core, Motus is community science. A community of researchers around the world conducting research on animals are tracked by a network of receiving stations maintained by a community of researchers, organizations, non-profits, governments, and individuals. In order for this concept to work, the system requires a centralized database and management system that all participants use. Most importantly, in order for your tags to be detected on any other station in the network, or for other project tags to be detected elsewhere, projects, receivers and tags need to be registered with, and have data processed by Motus.

While any automated telemetry project can operate in isolation, operating as a Motus project combines the collective impact of local, regional, and even hemispheric projects into one massive collaborative effort that expands the scale and scope of everyone’s work and maximizes the use of scarce research dollars. It also makes data available and more useful for future projects, collaborative endeavors and large-scale meta analyses.

16.4 What’s the cost?

There is NO cost to register your project and receivers to the Motus network and contribute your data. Tags registered to the network are charged a nominal fee to support data processing and ongoing maintenance and development of the system. See the collaboration policy and fee schedule for more information.

16.5 Data Ownership/Privacy

The collaborative nature of Motus relies on a certain level of transparency with respect to data. While basic project and tag summary information is made publicly available, researchers have the ability to customize data accessibility and keep their project and data private if necessary. See the collaboration policy for more information.

16.6 How to join Motus? In 3 or 5 easy steps

  1. Register with Motus
  2. Create your Project. Once registered with Motus you can join an existing project, or if registered as a Principal Investigator, you can create your own project. Manage landowners, users, data access levels, and project descriptions.
  3. Register and manage your Receivers. Enter and update important metadata about your receiver and station configuration, and upload data.
  4. (Optional) Register your Tags. Enter and update important metadata about your tags and animals.
  5. (Optional) Explore your data. Use our online resources to explore your data, or download and begin to analyze your data using the Motus R Book.

16.7 Motus provides

16.7.1 Collaboration and Community

  • Coordinated global network of automated radio telemetry receivers. See Motus by the numbers.
  • Become part of a global research and conservation community.
  • Collaborators have full control over data access.
  • Projects can be designed based on the placement of third-party stations.
  • Tagging data from multiple projects can be utilized in large-scale studies.
  • Troubleshooting and consultation advice from other researchers in the community, Motus staff and technology partners.

16.7.2 Data archive and management

  • One centralized data hub at Birds Canada National Data Center.
  • Standardized data format across all projects.
  • Permanent archive of data.
  • Access to the research software platform data visualization and management tools.
  • Metadata management platform.
  • Combined data from multiple stations into one simple to use database accessible through R.
  • Import data to Movebank.

16.7.3 Data access

  • Data is available from all stations in the network as soon as it is uploaded.
  • Real-time data uploads for stations with internet connectivity
  • Automatic data streaming from the receiver to Motus.org.
  • Public access to station and tag summary data, tracks, and maps via Motus.org.

16.7.4 Data Analysis and Tools

  • All data is automatically packaged and available in real-time through the Motus R Package.
  • Opportunities to Join a community of scientists developing new code for data processing, modeling, and manipulation.
  • Motus Research Software Platform visualization tools.

16.7.5 Technology

  • Draw on a community Supports options for local-to-hemispheric tracking infrastructure.
  • Partnerships with multiple technology firms for receivers and tags across numerous cutting-edge technologies.
  • Open-source hardware and software solutions via sensorgnome.org.

16.8 Motus is advancing

  • Multi-disciplinary Science
    • Movement, migration, and population ecology
    • Animal behavior and physiology
    • Environmental management
  • Conservation
    • Populations, survival, and species dynamics
    • Stopover, site-based, and full life-cycle knowledge
    • Informing use of flyways and landscapes
  • Education
    • Undergraduate through postgraduate studies
    • Open framework for development, code, and analysis sharing
    • Grade X-12 STEM curricula (science, technology, engineering, math)
  • Public engagement and storytelling

We are welcoming new collaborators and supporters each week! For more information or discuss how you or your organization can support Motus, contact motus@birdscanada.org

17 Appendix II: Qickstart Guide (SensorStation V1)

Courtesy of David Brinker

17.1 Powering Up

  1. Plug in the e-ink screen (if you have one).
    1. Your screen fits snugly onto the Pi-Hat expansion port provided, and will sit right on top of your Pi Compute Module. Note: Make sure the unit is off when swapping any components, and be careful when removing the screen not to bend the pins, it should lift straight up.
  2. Plug in power wires.
    1. Make sure the ON/OFF switch is in the OFF position.
    2. Locate the Green power block about an inch below the on ON/OFF switch. IT is marked with POWER on the left and 12VDC on the right of the block.
    3. Make sure that the power source is properly connected to a solar charge controller or a 12VDC Power adapter and the wires are labeled or color coded to positive and negative.
    4. We recommend leaving the power disconnected while connecting the wires to the SensorStation. It also works better to install wires that are tinned with solder with about ¼” showing.
    5. Depress each orange tab with a small straight screwdriver on the green power block to insert each wire. The positive is on the left and negative is on the right and marked with a +/- below the block. See images to right.
    6. Make sure the wires are not swapped!

17.2 Initial Boot-up of a SensorStation

  1. This is a simple set of instructions for the initial boot up of a SensorStation. Turn on the SensorStation using the slide switch on the left center of the SensorStation board.
  2. The SensorStation board will show two constantly illuminated LEDs, an orange one and a green one on the left side of the board. There will also be green and blue flashing LEDs.

  1. A normally operating SensorStation will present all four LEDs.
  2. The Inkyphat display will show the CTT SensorStation welcome.

  1. The display normally updates every 90 seconds. During initial boot-up the display update usually takes longer than 90 seconds. Wait for the SensorStation to complete boot-up. Once the display updates it will change to the default operating screen display.

  1. This display shows that the SensorStation is operating, the battery voltage and the number of CTT transmitter detections (Beeps). Note that in the top bar the display shows “No Cable”. This indicates that no Ethernet connection is available between the SensorStation board and a laptop computer.
  2. Insert a USB to Ethernet connector into one of the open USB ports on the SensorStation.

  1. Connect your laptop to the SensorStation with an Ethernet cable. Wait for the Inkyphat display to update. Once the display updates you will see the IP address assigned to the combination of your laptop and SensorStation in the top bar of the display. In this example the assigned IP address is 169.254.54.185.

  1. Now you are ready to view the operating status of the SensorStation on two different, and necessary, web interfaces. There are separate web interfaces for the CTT and Motus (Sensorgnome) systems. Open your web browser and enter the IP address into the address bar to open a new web page. The CTT web interface will open.

  2. If you have CTT LifeTags with you as test tags, they will show up as hits in the “Tags” window. The Station summary on the right includes information similar to the header of the familiar Sensorgnome display. The most important item is the “ID” number as that is needed to register the station with Motus. It also includes the time of the last boot and a boot counter. For more information on status scroll down through the display. The additional information includes windows for each of the five CTT antenna ports.

  3. There is a section for data management that we can skip when setting up a station, that section may be more useful to us in the future. Just below data management there is a blue button “Sensorgnome Interface”. Clicking on this button will open the familiar Sensorgnome web interface in a new window.

  1. FYI - you can edit the “deployment.txt” file in the provided box. At the bottom of the box there is a red “Save Changes” button. If you edit the deployment.txt file, do not forget to save your changes! The “Reboot” button also works as expected and pressing it will reboot the SensorStation.

  2. You can leave both the CTT web interface and the Sensorgnome web interface open at the same time in your web browser and switch back and forth as necessary. The Sensorgnome web interface pretty much operates as expected. Please note that SensorStations do not use the GPS’s clock to manage time and that you will always get the PPS missing warning on the Sensorgnome interface.

Clicking on “Sensor Station Interface” will open a new SensorStation page and move you to it. It is generally easier to switch back and forth between pages rather than clicking on the words to keep opening new windows.

  1. You can set Funcube frequencies directly in the “Devices” window and most other functions should operate as expected. Currently there is no way to upload a tag database to the SensorStation.

This should be enough to get us started and allow us to leave sites with confidence that the SensorStations are operating correctly.

18 Appendix III: Materials List

Item Group Description Part Number Connection Type(s) Number Required Supplier Link
A Comm. HO-432 Loop – for receiving LifeTags omnidirectionally M2 HO-432 Type N Female Depends on number of antennas Link
B Comm. A430S10 10 element yagi – directional antenna for receiving distant nodes and LifeTags Diamond Antenna A430S10 SO-238 Female Depends on number of antennas Link
C Comm. 433MHz 5dBi omni directional antenna – for receiving nodes from any direction, up to 700 meters away in some conditions Data Alliance A433O5 Type N Male Depends on number of antennas Link
D Comm. Cable from Antenna to SensorStation USA Coax Depends on antenna and SensorStation type Depends on number of antennas Link
E Mounting Hardware Tri-Pod Various, Amazon Depends on number of SensorStations Link
F Mounting Hardware Mast (electrical conduit) Lowes, Home Depot, Other Hardware Stores See Setup Guide Link
G AC Power 110-250 A/C, 50Hz/60Hz, Universal power supply, USA adapter unless specified Optional. If purchased separately its important to use 12V DC only
H Solar Power Panel 50 Watt Various 50-100 Watt Panel is a good range. If you have the space 100W works better under most conditions. one panel per station Link
I Solar Power 12v Deep Cycle (Marine) Battery Everstart, others Link
J Solar Power Charge Controller Various One per station Link
K Solar Power Pole-mount for Solar Panel can be mounted on the ground but a tilt/pole mount makes it easier to mount. 1 set Link
L Node Mast Many The EMT for the SensorStation (2, 1.5, 1 1/4, 1 ) Link
M Mounting Mast Clamp This should be the size of the bottom section of your mast- usually 1 ¼ to 2” Link
N Mounting Mast Mounting Rail Can be useful for mounting EMT mas on building or Two 2-3’ sections Link